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College football

West Virginia vaults into third

West Virginia was a precarious No. 3 in the Bowl Championship Series standings Sunday, leading a tightly packed group of nine teams trailing Ohio State and Michigan.

The Mountaineers replaced Southern California, which had been in third place before losing 33-31 at Oregon State on Saturday. But unlike the Trojans, West Virginia’s hold on third isn’t strong enough for the Mountaineers to control their destiny in the national title race.

West Virginia’s BCS average of .7862 was just slightly ahead of Florida (.7791) and Big East rival Louisville (.7621).

Auburn, Texas, USC, Notre Dame, California and Tennessee all had BCS averages of at least .7000, giving each of those one-loss teams legitimate hopes of reaching the national title game.

For the second straight week, Ohio State and Michigan held the top two spots in the BCS standings.

College football

Big East showdown

Thanks to USC’s fall, the pivotal game between West Virginia and Louisville will be the first top-five matchup for the rebuilt Big East.

The third-ranked Mountaineers and fifth-ranked Cardinals each moved up a spot in The Associated Press Top 25. The two unbeatens were off last week and play Thursday night in Louisville.

Southern California’s 33-31 upset loss to Oregon State on Saturday opened up a spot in the top five. USC dropped from No. 3 to No. 9 after its first regular-season loss since falling 34-31 in triple overtime to California on Sept. 27, 2003.

No. 1 Ohio State and No. 2 Michigan remained on top.

At No. 25, Washington State was ranked for the first time since finishing the 2003 season No. 9.

College football

Whitworth cracks DIII Top 10

The Whitworth Pirates are ranked No. 10 in the latest d3football.com Top 25, climbing one spot this week.

It continues to be the Pirates’ highest ranking since joining Division III.

Whitworth plays at conference foe No. 15 Linfield this week. There is plenty at stake as the winner will claim the conference championship.

Whitworth has not defeated Linfield since 1975.